UAE needs youth smoking ban, say doctors

A national smoking ban is needed soon in the UAE to help protect the health of young people, several doctors told the National newspaper. ‘We need legislation, education and taxation’ on tobacco products, Dr Wael al Mahmeed, head of the Emirates Cardiac Society, told the daily. ‘There is evidence which links the risk of heart attack to the amount of tobacco someone smokes, so stopping smoking at any time will reduce the risk.’ Health authorities are spending significant amounts of their public health budgets on anti-tobacco campaigns, specifically targeting schoolchildren and young people. A federal law banning smoking in public places was drafted in 2006 by the Ministry of Health, but has yet to be implemented.